Childhood Memories
by Afalstein
Summary: They always met, after school for coffee, and talked. And most of the time, they talked about when they were kids.
1. The Kids Next Door

Nigel Uno studied his cup. Thin wisps of steam rose from the smooth brown surface of the coffee before fading into nothingness, and the liquid sloshed about loosely. The air smelled of roast beans and sugary dough and sticky donuts and a half-dozen other odors that always seem present in a coffeeshop.

Nigel didn't know why he studied the cup so carefully. After all, it was just a cup of coffee, very similar in many ways to the ones his friends were holding. There was no reason to pay it any special attention. But ever since he could remember, he had always paid attention to little details, almost to the point of paranoia, so he saw no reason to stop now.

"Nigel? You okay?"

The voice of his childhood friend, Hoagie, broke in upon his thoughts, and Nigel shook his head to clear the cobwebs. He looked up. Hoagie, a tall, lanky young man with arms shooting out of his light blue t-shirt, stared back at him.

"You seemed kinda spaced out for a minute there." Hoagie eyed him worriedly.

"Abby thinks Nigel was just trying to guess what that stuff he's drinkin' is made of." Commented the dark-skinned girl next to Hoagie. A long black braided ponytail poked out from under a weathered baseball cap of faded red perched atop her head. She was slouched over, eyes half-hidden, and a sardonic grin was on her face. "Still trying to figure at how many germs is in there?"

Nigel snorted. "Hardly. An assortment of dried and ground genetically-enhanced bean, dissolved in a mixture of water, milk, sugar, whipped cream, banana flavoring, and who knows what else." He sniffed the cup and grimaced. "My dad wouldn't look at this stuff. Whose idea was it to always go to Starbucks, anyway?"

Hoagie rolled his eyes. "Yours."

Nigel thought that over a moment. "Oh yeah." He sipped his coffee absentmindedly.

"You always think of all the fun stuff to do, Nigie!" This bright and somewhat overly sugary comment bubbled out of a cheerful Japanese girl who was sitting on the other side of the booth. Nigel glanced across at her without comment. "Whenever we need something to do, you always come up with all the plans!"

"Huh." This from the squat boy just next to her. "Don't ask me why. It's not like yer cruddy ideas are worth anything."

"Oh silly!" The asian girl turned and giggled at him, slurping her snowcone rather noisily. "His ideas are always good! Besides, you never know what you want to do!"

"I do to!" The squat boy turned on her in a flustered sort of anger. "I have all sorts of ideas! I just… don't… feel like talking about them all the time."

This brought a snort from Abby, a grin from Hoagie, and a bubbly giggle from the Asian. Nigel raised his eyebrows in an amused manner but said nothing.

"Aw, come off it, Wally." Abby tilted her head off Hoagies shoulder, staring at the husky blonde boy. "Nigel's been thinking of stuff fer us to do since we were little kids! Ain't no reason why he should stop now."

"Heh." Hoagie looked over at Abby and grinned. "You do like to remember those days, don'tcha."

She gave him a friendly shove in return. "Them days was _fun,_ baby. Running around, pretendin' we was invading evil adult complexes, acting like we was Tom Cruise or Jason Bourne…" She shook her head. "Awesome."

"Oh yeah!" The asian bounced up in her seat happily. "I remember that! And we would all hang out in Nigel's treehouse and think up plans on how we were going to get all the ice cream from the awful ice-cream people or something."

"...and then we'd have all those cool fights and stuff." Wally gave the table an evil grin. "Hoagie'd make up some cool gadget thingie for us to pretend we all had, and Nigel…" He smirked. "Yeah, you were always the one telling us we should break into the convention center, or crash your cousin's birthday party, or something."

Nigel closed his eyes. "Please. We were kids. That was a long time ago."

"Aw c'mon!" Hoagie kicked him under the table. "It was fun! Remember the one time we pretended pirates attacked the treehouse and stole all our candy? Or the other time you lost your shorts at the beach, and we…"

"Yes." Nigel glared at Hoagie.

"Nigel, seriously!" Hoagie grinned. "Even you have to admit, that was pretty funny. That and the one time you had the problem with your under…"

"Stop it!" Nigel snapped, trying to ignore the giggles around the table. "I said it was a long time ago, okay!?" He leaned back with an indignant expression. "Anyway, it's not like I'm the only one who did stupid stuff back then. Shall we go over your babysitting adventures with Abby's sister?"

Hoagie blanched. A smirk broke loose from Wally, and Kuki broke into a fresh stream of giggles.

"Cree still thinks y'all are a bunch of pervs." Abby eyed Hoagie with a mixture of disapproval and amusement. "But Nigel, you're the one who raided her bedroom that one time and…"

"I **said** that was a long time ago!" Nigel cried, blushing furiously. "Sheesh, I was just a little kid, okay? I hardly knew what it was all about! I thought teenagers were evil and all that!"

"Might wanna watch it, Nigie." Wally's voice dripped with mockery, and he smiled blandly in the face of Nigel's fury over the hated nickname. "If your girlfriend ever found out the stuff you used to do…"

"Shut up." Nigel grumbled, and turned back to his coffee.

"Aw, c'mon, Wally." Hoagie glared at the jock. "You know she knows all about it anyway. She played with us just as much as anyone."

"Did not." Abby snorted, interrupting. "Abby knows Liz never liked playing those games. She just hung around because she was all boy-crazy over Nigel here."

"Quite the ladies man, weren't ya?" Wally smirked. "Awww… you two were so_ cuuuute_ back then. What a pity."

"Oh, be quiet!" Nigel glared, ignoring the chuckles around the table. "We were little… like, 12, most of us. We didn't even know what it all meant. Besides," He froze Wally with a glance. "You're hardly one to talk."

Wally turned slightly pale. Kuki's cheeks reddened a little.

A snicker broke loose from Abby. "He's got you there, baby."

Hoagie was just barely suppressing a grin. "Looking back, it was kinda funny. Especially considering how things have turned out now. I mean, you guys weren't so close when you started high school, and it could just have easily gone…"

"Shut up." Wally grunted, digging at his milkshake.

Hoagie shrugged and turned "Say, Nigel, how come Liz isn't here, anyway?" He asked. "I mean, she never really comes to these things after school."

Nigel was studying his coffee cup again. "She's got a job. Secretary position, at the principal's office. She needs to stay overtime a bit."

Abby looked about to say something, but she apparently decided against it. "Bummer."

Glancing over, Nigel shrugged. "Well, we see a lot of each other anyway. It's not so big. And anyway, these coffee things are kinda just for the five of us."

"Yeah…" Hoagie nodded. There was a short silence at the table. Hoagie looked over at Wally, who glanced sideways at Kuki, who bit her lip and smiled hopefully at Abby.

Abby said nothing.

The silence was finally broken by Nigel, who set down his cup of coffee with a sigh. "You know," he mentioned. "That old treefort is still up in the tree behind my house."

"Still?" Hoagie arched an eyebrow. "That thing's gotta be pretty rickety by now. I mean, sure the tree's strong and all, but that fort's been up there for a long time."

"It's holding pretty well." Nigel insisted. "I mean, my dad practically built the thing, ladder, walls, roof and all. Even helped us move in the TV that one time. Course, your little brother keeps tacking stuff on too, so that helps."

"Baby, your dad is seriously the coolest." Abby sipped at her mocha.

An exasperated expression came over Hoagie's face. "That Tommy. I swear I don't know what to do with him."

"Aw, he's okay." Abby swatted him again. "Just a little obsessed with Yipper still, that's all."

"You guys let Tommy play in there?" Wally glanced at Nigel, surprised.

Nigel nodded. "Sure. We don't use it anymore, and the kids in the neighborhood love to play all sorts of stuff there. Dad says it makes the fort so much worth it just to see all the kids playing."

"Who all plays back there?" Wally tilted his head, gulping down on more milkshake.

A frown creased Nigel's forehead. "Sheesh. I don't know. They come and they go. Your brother's been there a couple times, I think. And I know Mushi's been playing around there a couple times. And Tommy of course, and that one Shauny kid."

"Fanny's younger brother?" Abby looked over. "But she lives two blocks from you guys!"

Nigel shrugged. "I told you, I don't really know. They come, they play, they leave. We're so used to it, we hardly even notice sometimes. Anyway, you know we used to have kids over from even farther, back when we played there."

"Sometimes." Abby grunted. "But mostly it was just the five of us. Just pretending we were on some crazy mission, working for some insane organization. Fighting tyranny…" She sighed. "Crazy."

"We had sleepovers, and pretended we had all separate rooms, and acted like we had all this crazy stuff in there." Kuki's eye's were half-closed, dreamlike. "And we said we went all these planets and did all this great stuff." She smiled. "It was wonderful."

Wally was blushing furiously. Kuki was clutching at his arm in a most distracting manner. "It… it was fun." He admitted. "The… the fights, I mean. And pretending we were fighting all these supervillians."

"Heh." Hoagie smiled. "That really was awesome. All those crazy villains that we made up, and fought. And then sometimes we would get half the neighborhood together, and we would all hide around Mr. Wigglesteins' place, and pretend we were attacking or something." He looked over at Abby and smiled. "It was great. But we never were really got a big club together."

"No." Nigel nodded, staring at his swirling coffee. "It was never a big organization. We were just... the Kids Next Door."

* * *

Okay. This is just a little one-shot for all of you who put author watch cause of SEPARATION, only to have me post a Half-Life Story. Sorry, but it was on my mind at the moment. This has nothing to do with SEPARATION, though I am considering an addition to that story. 

I neither know, nor care, whether this conflicts with INTERVIEWS. If it does, I do NOT want to know. I've heard too much about the spoilers already, and I don't want to know anymore. Consider this an AU, if you want. Just an idea about maybe what Kids Next Door actually is… a bunch of kids in an imaginary world of their own.

Tell me if you like this. I may write more, detailed accounts of ZERO or something, from this POV.


	2. Persistance of Memory

"You know," Nigel stared at the surface of his coffee. "I saw my cousins over at the family reunion the other day."

"Those idiots?" Wally raised an eyebrow. "How they doing? Still a bunch of stuck up snobs?"

Nigel allowed himself a small smile. "Pretty much. They're getting better, though, and at least they don't all stay in their own private little huddle anymore. David wasn't even there, he had some meeting to go to or something."

"Where's that guy work?" Abby frowned.

"Beats me." Nigel shrugged. "Uncle Ben got him some government job somewhere. He's never at home anymore. I did talk to Lenny though."

"He's alright." Wally nodded. "I see him sometimes at practice. Stinks at football, but he tries." He slurped noisily on his milkshake, earning him a glare from Kuki. "He's been helping me with math too."

"He used to play with us." Hoagie squinted, trying to remember. "Sometimes."

"Oh, silly!" Kuki grinned. "They all played with us! We played with them all the time! Remember? We would be trying to attack the evil ice cream factory, and they would be the…"

"That was when we had forts. We pretended to have fights." Nigel shifted uneasily. "But it always came down to pretending who won, and we could never agree. It wasn't exactly 'playing', Kuki."

"Yeah…" Wally frowned. "That one time they got Lenny to play with us, and then he just grabbed our book and ran off, laughing." Wally growled. "That was such a stupid thing to do."

"We did a lot of stupid stuff back then." Nigel pointed out.

"Anyway, it didn't make a difference, cause we didn't have anything in that book anyway." Abby smirked. "Just a stupid photo album. I think we pretended it was a bomb, that blew up their base, or something."

Hoagie grinned. "That was Chad's idea. Hilarious."

"Oh, that's right!" Kuki covered her mouth, her little eyes shining. "I remember! Chad used to play with us! Like all the time! He would get everybody, from all the neighborhood, and we would play these humooongously fun games! He was awesome!"

"He was pretty good at it." Hoagie grinned back. "He had all these wild ideas, and other great stuff. He's the one who helped us build that weird fort back in the old junkyard."

"That's right." Wally grinned. "That place had old refrigerators and beat-up TV's, and all sorts of rusty old cars to pretend we was flying space ships. And I think we set up another hamster tunnel farm, even bigger than the one we had set up back at Nigel's place. All the kids hung out there. We pretended it was on the moon, and then when Hermie pointed out people had landed on the moon, Chad told him it was all a fake." Wally chuckled. "You know, there's this kid in my class who still thinks the moon landing was a fake."

"Chad was one awesome dude, baby." Abby tugged at her hat enthusiastically. "He would make up great plans about what the _French_ KND was up to, and how the_ Russian_ KND was plotting, and whether the _Chinese_ KND needed help..." She chuckled. "Wild ideas. Course, he was a big teenager, and we was just little bitty ten year olds at the time, so we looked up to him anyways. But he was fun."

"He was." Nigel agreed, somewhat distantly. "He was."

There was a little silence.

"We were pretty mean to him, weren't we?" Hoagie ventured.

"Oh, ya think?" Abby nearly exploded. "Chasing the guy around while he was delivering pizzas, charging into his team's locker room, even getting all the six-graders to attack the high school! DANG, we was idiots back then!"

"And that doesn't even include hiding or attacking him everytime we saw him." Nigel winced. "How he put up with that…"

"Aw, c'mon!" Hoagie shoved Nigel. "We were just kids! We didn't understand all about high school, and girls, and stuff like that. We just figured he stopped playing with us cause he didn't like us!" He sank back to his seat grumbled. "Anyway, it's not like it was all our fault. He did start acting all high and mighty, ignoring us and calling us brats."

"Didn't we make up somethin' about him betraying the club, or something like that?" Wally cocked an eyebrow. "Pretended he was going to send the 'moonbase' into the sun."

"Oh yeah!" Kuki giggled. "And Hoagie's little brother pretended to be all kidnapped and stuff. That was fun. We decided he wasn't a part of the Kids Next Door."

"And we decided teenagers were evil." Nigel took another drink from his coffee. "Don't forget that. We also decided the reason why none of them believed in the 'moonbase' was because they had their memories erased, or something."

"Uuuunnngh…"Abby closed her eyes and bent her head down to drink from her drink. "Abby ain't gonna forget that for a while. How her sister ever lived through them years…"

"How is your sister, anyway?" Hoagie asked.

Abby gave him a sideways glance that made Hoagie get a little flustered. "Oh c'mon! I keep telling you, that was years ago! Anyway, she's got a boyfriend now, doesn't she?"

Abby softened and laughed. "Yeah. She and Maurice sure have hung on. Heh." She shook her head. "Kinda funny, considering how Maurice and I used to go on about her."

"Maurice?" Nigel perked up a little. "Maurice we didn't tease so much. And he played around with us some still even after he went off to high school. Told us he was some kind of 'undercover agent', or something." Nigel smiled as he remembered. "Still." He shook his head. "We used to be a bunch of little pills."

"Aw, relax." Wally looked up at the ceiling disinterestedly. "It's been years, and they're all off in college. They probably don't even remember it anymore."

"I'm not even sure I do." Kuki giggled. "Are you sure all that stuff happened? It sounds so… silly, really!"

"Oh, it happened all right." Hoagie chuckled. "We had loads of fun back then. I mean…" he threw a glance at Nigel. "Yeah, we were jerks, but so were all the other kids, so I don't think anybody really noticed."

"Eh…. Maybe not." Nigel smiled a little.

"And I think the older kids kinda liked playing the bad guys." Hoagie smirked. "At least, I know Cree did, and I think Chad mighta liked it too. And your Uncle Ben just lived to catch us running around his yard. About the only thing kept him amused. You remember the time we had the neighborhood picnic?"

"Ooooh." Wally's face got a look of dawning comprehension. "THAT time. That was awesome."

"Oh yeah!" Kuki's eyebrows bounced. "I remember that! We had everybody at the convention center place, and all the adults were there too."

"There was a lot of people at that place, baby." Abby grinned. "Mr. Fullbright, the one cranky guy down the street with the busted leg, even Nigel's granddad from overseas." She gave out another little laugh. "And we were all running around, pretending the world was getting run over by zombies or something."

"Yeah!" Wally nodded enthusiastically. "I remember that! Nigel's granddaddy was supposed to be the really nasty guy, and anyone who touched him was turned into a cruddy zombie, and then they ran around touching other people."

"Hoh yeah." Hoagie's grin spread from ear to ear. Awesome time. I think your cousins even got in the game, Nigel."

"Could be." Nigel nodded. "I don't remember exactly. I just remember my Dad finding out about the game and playing with us, pretending he was a Kids Next Door operative." He stared at the table, "That was the most awesome thing ever. My Dad always was good at playing with us, but that time… that was just… wow."

"Yeah…" Hoagie nodded.

The five friends fell silent again, staring at the table. Kuki slurped on her snowcone. Hoagie reached out and tickled Abby's side, who turned and gave him a light smack. Around them, the noise of the coffee house flowed about, patrons bustling and light music wafting over the speakers. Two ten-year olds ran in the door and hopped into a booth. An old couple came up to the counter and spoke with the blonde at the cash register.

Wally finally broke the silence. "We shoulda kept up with the others better."

The others nodded.

"Fanny, Patton, Hermie…" Wally sighed. "I ain't really spoke to them in years." He looked at the others. "Why'd we ever stop hanging out like that?"

Abby shrugged. "We grew up. It happens."

"After a while, people just stopped coming." Hoagie frowned, thinking. "And it… I dunno. All the work at high school, and everything going on… It was just easier to plop in front of the TV and watch something."

'Yeah." Kuki nodded, her smile dimming some. "I mean, like, we still saw them at school and stuff, but we just didn't talk as much anymore."

"Heh." Nigel smirked a little. "I wonder if the others thought we were just like the other teenagers. THAT'd be justice."

* * *

"They have been speaking for a long time now."

"Yeah. I noticed"

"They have spoken about many things that concern us directly." The chubby ten-year old stole a glance from under his wide-brimmed hat over at the teenagers laughing at the corner table. "Our reconnaissance has proven most instructive."

"Well?" The short blonde kid peered across the table at his companion. "Are we done here or what? Didja find it out?"

"Indeed." The other's hat nodded up and down. "They remember nothing."

"Nothing?"

A smile curved the mouth of the chubby one. "Nothing that can be dangerous to us. The revised decommissioning process has allowed them to retain their memories by manipulating them into seeming fantasies."

"Huh?" The blonde kid looked up.

The hat frowned, and the child pulled up the corners of a dark cape he was wearing. "They think it was all a game, Joey. They cannot oppose the organization, because they think the organization never existed." Tommy grinned. "My brother's invention worked perfectly."

* * *

**A.N:** Yeah, another one. I just wanted to get that last little bit in there, and cover some other things that I didn't really mention last time. I'm not going to do any more of these, I think. They're fun, but they're not the kind of story I get in for.

Still, more of this or not, **PLEASE REVIEW!** I realize I'm twisting some basic facts about the KND universe here, but that's kinda the point. The thing with decommisioning I think is actually intentional on the part of the show, I mean, why else does the decom chamber use television screens? (especially if a plunger comes out. Whose idea was that?) But I also thought it fun to give a hint of the world surrounding the teenagers.


	3. What is Love?

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways!"

"Aw, shut yer mouth, Hoagie, it's prettier widout such stupid stuff coming out of it."

"Oh hey!" Hoagie frowned in mock annoyance. "Now I take offense! Here I am, trying to be nice and romantic and all, and you insult me! I am shocked, my dear, quite shocked."

Abby smirked at him from across the couch. "Sure ya are."

"Ahhh." Hoagie gave it up and flopped back onto the couch. "You sure you don't mind this?" He arched an eyebrow at her. "Just the two of us, sitting here, studying for the test tomorrow? I mean, it's Valentine's and all…"

Abby shook her head. "Naw. I got better things to do than make you run around tryin' to impress me cause of some stupid holiday Hallmark invented." She glanced down at her book. "Don't know how much studying we're getting done though…"

"Oh, relax." Scoffing, Hoagie grabbed a handful of popcorn. "It's not like it's anything we don't know."

Another smirk. "You don't, maybe…"

"Oh shut up." A grin from Hoagie. "Seriously, though." He said, his face changing again. "Are you sure you don't wanna… you know, go out to eat or something?"

Abby raised her eyebrows. "This too boring for ya, boy?"

"No! Not at all! But…" Hoagie sighed. "It's just… I heard Wally talking about how he and Kuki are going to the prom thing, and I think Lizzie and Nigel are heading out to _Le Cusine_, and… I dunno. I didn't really think about doing anything until just today and I hoped you weren't… you know."

"Aw, let the others have their fun." Abby shrugged it off. "You and me ain't never needed stuff like that before, and we ain't gonna start now, right?"

"Guess not." Hoagie grinned, watching her. Just outside the window, he could see thin flakes of snow drifting to the ground. "Heh. Nothing like the others, really."

"Oh, goodness sakes, I hopes not!' Abby put down her book again. "If yer suggesting I'm anything like that obsessive-manic bundle of hormones Nigel calls a girlfriend…"

"No, no." Hoagie waved the accusation away. "But we've never been big on all the… you know."

"Mebbe not." Abby was looking at him now. "But we've always been there. We always used to sit next together at lunch, 'member? And there was the one time you helped me out with that kindergarteners that one time."

"That was fun." Hoagie grinned. "The kindergarteners all went ape over the bunny missing. Somehow we ended up helping them look for it…"

"As I remember…" Abby put on a slightly reproachful look. "I told them we'd help, and you just tagged along whining."

"Details." Hoagie shrugged. "Anyway, it was YOUR friend that had the bunny, that one Henrietta girl." Hoagie shook his head. "Y'know, I'm still not sure she's really a girl."

"Oh, give the poor girl a break, wouldja?" Abby frowned at him. "It's not her fault her parents made her get that wacky haircut. And she always did like chocolate, so it ain't surprising what she looked like."

"I suppose." Hoagie shrugged. "I just remember when you finally told me…" He stopped at a glare from Abby. "Well, I suppose she's gotten a lot better now."

"Dang right she has." Abby gave her hair a flip, settling back down to work.

A grin curved Hoagie's mouth. "She's kinda the high school's eye candy…"

"Oh shut it!" Abby chucked a couch pillow at him.

"Heh." Hoagie was still looking at her, not really paying much attention to the book open in front of him. The one end of his mouth twisted slightly upward. "You remember that one time Nigel's cousins hosted a party at their place, and invited us all?"

Abby grinned back. "That time we had our picture taken? What about it?"

Hoagie blushed a little. "N… nothin'. I just wondered if you remembered it." He fiddled with the edges of his book. "It was… well, it was kinda our first date, I guess. We were just kids then, we didn't really even know it, but…"

"Naw, but we knew we were good friends." Abby gave him a knowing look. "Even if we was too dumb to figure out what that might mean."

"Well…" Hoagie looked aside. "If we had, you probably woulda gotten real cautious, and I would've made an big pain in the rear."

"Yep." Looking down, Abby nodded. "Prob'ly."

Hoagie's hand reached across the book and touched hers. "As it happened…" She heard the smile in his voice. "Things worked out just fine with us being ourselves."

Without looking up, Abby nodded, slowly.

* * *

"No." Kuki insisted, giggling. "Not now, silly! The party's not even half over! We should be getting back in there."

"Aw, c'mon." Wally grinned at her. The two of them were sitting on a long couch in a darkened room vaguely resembling a study. Out before them stretched a long glass window, in which glimmering lights revealed a profuse collection of seaweed and brightly colored fish. Far away could be heard the throbbing notes of the dance on the floor above.

Kuki giggled again. "We'd really better get back." She said, turning to him. "Mr. Wigglestein would be soooooo mad if he found us in here." She turned back, watching as a bright green eel nosed out of a cave and slipped between the weeds. "How'd you know about this place, anyway?"

Playing with an end of her long hair, Wally grinned. "I asked Abby. She's been all over this place a dozen times. She followed her sister down here one time."

Kuki straightened up and pushed his hand away. "When was that?"

"Oh, years back, I imagine." Wally looked a little disappointed, but answered anyway. "Probably that one time David invited Chad and all the others over."

"Oh yeah." Kuki grinned. "And then they were so noisy that Lenny ran out and asked us to help chase them off." She giggled, flopping back down onto the couch. "That was great. We played some prank with the sprinkler systems and other stuff." She squinted up at him. "Did we dance, Wally? Seems like we danced then."

"Ah, you're always saying we did this or that." Wally waved the idea away. "You still say we were both at that one party at my Dad's job, and I don't remember that at all."

"That's cause you stayed in the corner the whole time muttering about Pluto." Kuki poked him. "You were about the only boy there."

"Whatevah." Wally grumbled, settling down further into the couch.

"Oh, oh, and there was the one time you sneaked into Fanny's slumber party because you thought the girls were planning something." Kuki grinned. "Remember? And you…"

"Oh shut up!" Wally glared at her, a small smile playing around his lips. "Anyway, do _you_ remember the time we all went to the beach and you pretended you were going to marry Sandy?"

"What! No! I… I…" Kuki started back, stuttering a little with giggling, her cheeks burning bright red. "No! No, I don't! I don't remember any of that! You're thinking of Mushi, you big silly!"

"Sure I am." The smile was spreading slowly across his face. "And 'Mushi' musta also been the one who coerced the lifeguard into 'marrying' the both of you, and also who broke it off when Sandy kept following her all over the place and tying her up and stuff."

"I…. oh, you be quiet!" Kuki slapped him. "You're just making stuff up now."

"Oh, I wasn't before?" Wally ran a hand over his bristly chin, looking at her with an amused expression. "Are you saying you _do_ remember?"

"Oh, you, you…" Giggling, Kuki sank onto his shoulder. "You stupid…" She gave it up and subsided into silence. "Idiot."

"Airhead." Wally kissed her on the forehead, just beneath her carefully arranged hair.

They spent a long time in silence. A tiny octopus shot out from behind a rock and snagged a bright green tetra. The music filtered down from above, now a light, jazzy waltz. Something clicked in the tank and a series of purple and pink lights flickered on. Some kind of light pattering came from the hallway.

"Hey Wally?"

"Hmmm?"

"You remember the school play? In fourth grade?"

Wally chuckled. "The one about the gang wars? When we got a little too carried away and actually started fighting on stage?"

"Yeah."

"What about it?"

"You never did help me finish that song." Kuki could barely back a smile as she spoke. "You ran off halfway through."

"What?" Wally's brow creased in thought. "What song was… oh." He pulled back and looked at her. "Well, duh. That thing was the corniest, cheesiest…"

"Will you sing it nowwwwwwww?" Kuki looked up at him with big, starry eyes.

"You… oh, quit it!" Wally looked away. "How you ever roped me into even doing half of it back then…."

"You offered to, as I remember." Kuki pouted.

"Aw, nonsense." Wally glared at her, unconvinced "Why would I have ever volunteered to sing such a cruddy song?"

Kuki giggled, forgetting to be upset. "I was awfully surprised. It wasn't really your sort of thing, and you never were into that kinda stuff." She looked up at him again. "You weren't into a lot of things I was, back then."

"Still aren't" Wally smiled down at her. "But it was fun, even back then, to have something to bounce against. You were so completely different, and yet somewhat alike…" He shook his head. "It was fascinating."

"We were awfully different." Kuki agreed, dreamily, snuggling deeply into the crook of Wally's arm. "And now…" She looked over. "Look at us."

Wally looked, and smiled.

"How'd we ever get to here?"

Wally leaned forward and whispered. "We changed. We journeyed toward the other, and met in the middle."

* * *

"Ewwwwwww….."

"Numbuh 43! Numbuh 43, come in!"

"Numbuh T, I don't feel so good." The ten-year-old boy slumped against the wall of the darkened hallway, barely visible in the pink and purple light streaming from the doorway next to him. "I'm gonna throw up…"

"Why? What's going on?"

The boy risked another peak around the corner, blanched, and turned back. "They're kissing. On the couch."

"Ewwwwww…."

"Yeah." Blonde hair nodded up and down. "I know. They are in Father's secret lair, though. I did manage to find that."

"Anything there?"

The shrug of the shoulders could be faintly seen in the darkness. "Not that I can see. Doesn't look like he keeps anything special down here."

"Aw man!" The whine sounded clearly over the radio. "Numbuh 83 was sure there would be something we could use. Rats! And after we went to all this trouble…"

"How're things on your end?"

A short pause. "Eh… nothing too exciting. They're just sitting on the couch in the living room, hogging the TV. My brother's got his arm around her, though. Is that important?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Numbuh 43 frowned at the radio.

"Welll… uh…" The radio fell silent. "Okay, whatever. You two sabotage the punch bowl and then get out of there."

"Sure thing." Joey folded up the radio and vanished into the dark.

* * *

"Double Latte, please."

"Geez, Nigel, you look awful." The cashier eyed him worriedly. "You sure you want a coffee at this time of night?"

"Just get me the coffee." Nigel groaned, head flopping down to the counter. "Make it decaf if it makes you feel better." A hand reached back and began to loosen his tie, groping for the button that held his collar.

The hum of the coffee machine filled the bare café. "How'd it go tonight? Someone told me you were taking Liz out to Le Cusine." The cashier came back to the counter, chewing a wad of gum and holding a steaming cup. "You sure look like you're dressed for the part. Always going for the grand, huh?"

"It was her idea." Nigel took the coffee and gulped it down. "But, yeah, I have a lot to make up for, considering I used to treat her. I mean… when we were kids, I would take her to a dance and spend the whole time pretending we were on some mission. Or trick her into spoiling the whole school board dinner for me."

"Well, most kids do pretend stuff like that." The cashier leaned over the counter. "The whole boyfriend/girlfriend doesn't usually kick in at that age unless you're obsessive or read too many dime-store novels."

Nigel chuckled. "I guess I do that a bit too." He mulled over the thought in silence for a while. The cashier stared at him, waiting.

Finally it happened. Nigel sighed and turned from his cup. "What's it mean to be in love, do you think?"

"You're asking me?" The cashier popped a big bubble. "I haven't had a boyfriend in years."

"It just…" Nigel sighed. "I mean, sometimes I wonder…" He shook his head. "We were talking today, and she thinks I'm getting too obsessive with my job."

"What, you, obsessive?" Eyes rolling, the cashier smirked at him. "What an idea."

"I know, I know." Nigel grinned, waving it off. "But… It's not the first time she's said something like this. First it was that English program I was thinking of getting into. And then it was that she didn't think I took her anywhere. And lately she's started hinting how my job isn't very good…"

"Heard about your break." The cashier nodded. "Congratulations. They must've really liked that story."

"Always have liked making stories." Nigel grinned. "Thanks. But… sometimes I feel like I do so much for her, and it seems like she hardly does anything back." He sighed. "She probably does, I know, and I've never been the most romantic guy in the world. And I definitely don't want to be the jerk I was before, and just break up with her cause she got invited to my cousin's party and I didn't." Nigel grinned, then subsided. "But sometimes I wonder… How much am I supposed to give up?"

"Well, to some extent that's part of love, I guess." The cashier shrugged. "Giving up yourself for the other person. There's no room for considering yourself when you promise to always consider another."

"Yeah." Nigel nodded glumly. "I suppose so. But sometimes it seems so… unfair."

"Then you should talk to her about it instead of always coming here to sob your stories out." The cashier smirked again. "Everybody always thinks they're being shortchanged. They come here all the time. Believe me, I have to listen to all of them."

Nigel grinned a little. "You must get pretty sick of it."

"A little." A shrug. "But it's fun to hear other people's stories sometimes. You get a feel for what life is like. And it gets you better tips."

"Heh." Nigel chuckled. "Yeah, it would. But you're saying that I should just sit back, let her walk over me?"

"Oh no!" The cashier looked rather startled. "No! Not that! I never said that. But make sure you are being walked over, and don't just think you are." She offered him a smile. "It's kinda… you need to work at it. You need to become someone else, and yet remain yourself." She scratched her head. "Or something like that. I dunno, the guy was hyper-caffinated when he said that."

Nigel smiled. "Ha. Good one." He sighed as he got up. "Well, thanks, I guess. That does straighten out some things I was wondering about. I'll have to talk to Lizzie more." He turned as he shrugged into his coat. "How much do I owe you for the coffee, Rachel?"

The blonde at the counter smiled. "On the house, Nigel."

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah, Rachel is kinda OOC. And Wally is pretty OOC. And this whole story is pretty OOC for me, cause I hate writing mushy stuff. I barely got through the whole 3 and 4 bit. But I wanted a way to introduce Rachel, and people wanted some more in this series, and Valentines Day seemed a good time to introduce her. Hence… what you have here.

**Comment** and **flame** as appropriate. Sorry for making you read through all this stuff, but make it worth something and tell me to write shorter stories.


End file.
